Foldable display rack



Dec, 27, 1927.

E. M. MULLIN FOLDABLE DISPLAY RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 2l, 1925 @M 5L. 74 my@ cli-mm1 E. M. MULLIN FOLDABLE DISPLAY RACK Dec. 27, 1927. 1,654,088

Filed Nov. 2l, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lill fill

UlillTED STATES PATENT orrice.

FOLDABLE DISPLAY RACK.

Application filed November 21, 1925. Serial No. 70,661.

i ing a roll to the standboolr and thus rrii7- ing a high light at this point for exhibiting the texture, color and sheen ot the various papers in a inanner that emphasizes their toll decorative value.

A further object resides in the provision ot ineansin the torno ol. a shelf Which cow acts with the component parts ot the racl; to torni a rest tor the leaves of the bool: and tor other purposes as will appear hereinafter.

A still further object ot the invention is to provide means associated with the supportingF traine ol the rack and the tiltable section 'for limiting the angular positioning oi' the latter with respect to the former.

lVitli these objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel formation, combination and arrange nientol parts all as Will be described more fully hereinatter, illustrated in the drawings and particularly pointed ont in the claims.

lleiierrine` to the dra-Wines:

Figure l is a rear elevation of the rack in closed position, certain parts being broken avraiv to shortT the relation ot certain pivoted ineinbers.

llig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view illustrating the raclr partially nn- :tolded lij. 3 is a view lilre nnto Fig. 9., but showing; the raclr in an advance stage ot' nn- Atoldinfr FH lis a side elevation oi the raclr in eet-np position; and i 5 is a siinilar view but illustrating the function and purpose ot the tiltable sectionm non more particularly to the f drawings wherein like share acters ot' reference denote similar parts throngghout the several views-i5 let l0 denote the sni'iporting il'raine or nieniber ot my iinprored stand raelr. This supporting,1 traine lll comprises 'lrnt and rear side members ll and l2 respectively, pivoted at their upper ends by means oil a. pin ll, as cleanly shown in the drawn] As observed in Fig, l, there are tivo iront and rear side members, cach pair beine; held in spaced parallel relation by nieans of the cross-pieces or cleats 14 and l5 respectively.

The tiltable section 1G oil. mv novel rack consists of upwardly extending members 17, having; their loiver Vends pivoted between the said side nienibers ll and l2, (see Fig. l), While their upper ends are connected by a cross-piece 1S.

The shel't portion ot my raclr, denoted generally by the innneral lSL also comprises side members 2G, hai/'inel their inner ends pivoted to the upper portions et said nienr bers il?1 as at 2l, and are held in spaced par allel relation by means oi' cleats 29j.

Means tor bracinir said supportingr traine l0 and said shelt 19 is provided in the forni of braces 23, each of said braces comprising the parte 24 and 25 and held in. spaced parallel relation by means of the cross-pieces .26 and 27. i

From the foregoing' it will be seen that my rack embodies essentially the supporting iframe l0, the tiltable section 1G, the shelit 19 and the braces 9.3i all ot which beine: snitablv connected to produce a rack capable of :toldingr and un'loldnn in a manner to be presently described in detail Passingn new to the untoldingr ot the rack to the position shown in llink 4l, let consider said raclr in the 'tolded condition as noted in Fie. l. llore tbe con'iponent parte are nested rnbstanl'ialljv Within the 'liront side members ll7 and the whole raclr as renards thickness. isednal in width to said rneinbers ll. Each ot the parte are so arrangedAj when being' 'folded that the); slide bv one another and no interference with each other encountered. For instance, lor the saire of clear rinderstandine'.` lli El' and have been introduced to illustrate tivo steps in setting' up the device? though it should be remenr loered that in actual practice brit one operau tion is necessary to accomplish thispuri'iosef ln the first step the slielt portion lil is raised tijtlrliardly irliereirlglon the je :4 `lli et said,

tll

brace 23, which is pivoted to the side members of the shelf 19, emerges from its folded position, as shown in Fig. 2, the inner end thereof, carrying vthe pin 29, moving vmember 12 to cause the latter to emerge from its nestedposition, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. lThe operation above described is continued, the pin 29 in the meanwhile riding tofth'e upper'end of said's'lo't 30' in the part 2,4, causing said pin 33 to ride down the slot 34 in the side member 12 until' the rack is in the set-up position as indicated in Fig. 4. The pin 29 slips to the base of said slot 30 and thus supports the shelf 19.

` In- Fig. 1, certain of the cleats 22 carried by the shelf 19 have been broken away in order that the relative folded positions of parts'24 and 25 of said brace 23 may be readily understood.

In this figure it will be observed that the side members 2O are positioned relatively close togetherin parallel relation in order that they may slide by the part 25, and this isaeeomplished by means of insert blocks 35 Vcarrying the shelf pivoting means 21, as

' hereinbefore pointed out.

The bracing means and shelf portion of my rack are of utmost importance in that they both bespeak an advance in the art,

when one considers the usual type of displayraek, which comprises but a front por- 1 tion having a hinged supporting means, the

stand book in this case being nailed'to the top of the front portion, and the individual papers in said Abook being thrown back and falling over the top of the front portion. In my device` the 'supportingY frame is positively held in locked position and the leaves of the stand book B, carried v'by the cross piecelS, are neatly piled upon the shelf portion whereby suitable notations as to selectionV of various papers andthe customers order may benoted in aneasy and efficient manner. Obviously the returning. of indiv-idualvpapers which have been thrown over th'efioldistyle rack, for another observation by the customer, necessitates the bending over vto-reaeh down and lift the papers over rthe-top. In my improvement the salesman 'standing besidethe rack, may easily turnV back theindividual papers forY further scrutiny by the prospective purchaser. This isa feature of importance.

Probably the outstanding feature of my invention resides in the tiltalile :'eftion 1G. which is shown in operative position in lfin. 5. In Fig. 4, we left the rack as it would ordinarily appear in the. store. but in said Fig. 5 we consider the device now in actual use to a point of highest eiliciency. Consideringr the tiltable section now. il" will he noted in that the side member 1T coincides with the side members 1l of the supportingir frame 10, so that tion tl=e former appears lo he but a eontinuafion ef said nieinhers l1. I'Iowever, this is not tif-uev` out only held in this position by means of ar pin 3i' striking against an upstandino; pin 33 in the supporting frame. .fi second nin 39 rises from said supporting frame and when said tiltable section is bent or inclined rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 5. this pin 39 and pin 3T cooperate to maintain said section in the illustrated position.

Obviously my device would function as a displaying means if no tilting means were provided, but this disadvantage accrues. Let us assume the device continues in the form shown in Fig. 4 and the papers are thrown rearwardly onto the shelf until but a few papers ren'iain restingon the front section.

tis now apparent that the bent-up condi- I tion of the papers as noted at O would conceal a goodly portion of the tops of the papers on exhibition and in all likelihood would require some sort of staying means else the entire pile of papers on the shelf return to the papers remaining on the front portion. To this end I have arranged a tiltable section in order, first, that the weight of the thrown-up papers may be to the left of the vertical axis of the pivoted supportingr frame, and second in order that the tops of the papers on exhibition might be readily seen, and thus produce the so-ealledroll D. The at vant-ages are numerous, the most pronounced of all being the high light at this point for exhibiting the texture. color and sheen of the various papers in a manner that emphasizes their full decorative value.

Obviously the right is reserved to make such changes and modifications that fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A foldablerack comprising a supporting frame, a shelf adapted to receive flexible sheets and a tiltable section pivotally connected to said frame and shelf, and adapted to support Flexible sheets, the rearward till of said section positioning the roll produced in the thrown-up .sheets rearward of the vertical axis of the pivotal connection between said section and frame.

2. A foldable rack comprising a supporting frame, a shelf adapted to receive flexible sheets, a tiitable section pivotally connected to said frame and shelf, and adapted to support flexible SheetsH the rearward tilt of said section poeitioning` the roll produced in tllo tlirownaip sheets rearward of the Vertical axis of the pivotal connection between said section and frame, and means for limiting the tilt of Said section.

3. A ioldable rack eonriprisinlgz)r a supporti'ra/ine, a shelf adapted to receive flexible sheets, a tiltable section pivotally connected te said frame and :Shelf and adapted to support flexible sheets, the rearward tilt of said Section poeitioning` the roll produced in the tln'ownalp sheets rearward of tlie vertical axis ott' the pivot connection between said Section and ifi-anw and braces pivotally connected to said Shel-li' and said frame, each of Said braces being piroted 'intermediate their ends lo break into a oldable poaition.

4l. In a i'oldable display rack, the eo1n bination with a silpporting frame and shelf, of a tiltable section pivotelly connected to said frame and el'iel'l`y Said tiltablc erection earr i]in;` a quantity of llexible Sheets and adapted lio be tilted rearwardljlf to displace the roll produced by said sheets when in tlnominp position, to a poeition rearward of the Vertical anis; of the pivotal connection between eaid Section and tranne.

in testinaon),T Wliereoilf l llave signed my name to this specification.

EDWIN MORVAL llULLIN. 

